The young man disappeared, leaving the door partially open. I looked in and saw pizza boxes and dirty socks littering the floor. Costumes were thrown everywhere. It was enough to give Portia a migraine.
“Is this guy as tall as Ross?” I asked Chase as we waited.
“Not really.” He shrugged. “Maybe. I didn’t pay too much attention. Some of that might be prosthetics.”
“You mean you haven’t met him in person? ”
“I don’t screen employees, if that’s what you mean. It’s one of the few things I don’t do around here.”
The young man finally wandered back to the door. “I don’t see him. He was here last night. I guess he’s out getting something to eat.”
“Thanks. I’d like to see his room.”
“Is that legal? ” The young man looked at me. “I mean, don’t you need a warrant or something? ”
Chase laughed. “This is Adventure Land property. I don’t need anything to look around.”
The young man scurried before us picking up leftover food and dirty clothes while shouting out a warning, “Look out! The queen’s hired thug is here. Hide what you can.”
I was proud of Chase that he didn’t squash the poor guy like a bug. I thought I remembered seeing him waiting tables at the Pleasant Pheasant. Not a great job.
We finally reached Bart’s room through the maze of small rooms that had been quickly converted to house dozens of residents. Chase thanked the young man, then closed the door, shutting him out.
“What’s Bart’s last name? ” I’d dated a guy named Bart a few years back. He’d played the Big Bad Wolf before graduating to being a knight. I hoped it wasn’t the same guy.
Chase consulted his Palm Pilot and smirked. “It says Van Imp. That seems a little hard to believe. These Adventure Land people don’t notice anything.”
I looked through the clothes on the floor, the bed, and tossed over the chair and chest of drawers. I didn’t see the big, black Death costume or the scythe. I opened the drawers in the chest. There was nothing in there at all. “No blood or jelly. Dead end.”
“Recognize the name?” Chase asked as he looked around.
“No. Van Imp doesn’t sound familiar to me.”
“I don’t see any blood. No costume or weapons. If he’s the guy who left that message on the scythe last night, he must be a lot neater about hiding his trail than how he lives.”
“Somehow this makes it much worse.”
“How so? ”
“Well, if our Death isn’t stalking me, that means it’s a strange Death. Maybe even one that isn’t from the Village at all. That means it could be anybody.”
“True.” Chase put his arms around me. “Reconsider? I think you should leave. I don’t like the idea of not being able to protect you.”
“Not a chance. Maybe this wasn’t the answer, but there is an answer. We have to find out more about Ross. Maybe if we know why he was killed, we can figure out why Death is following me around.”
“Stubborn.”
“But beautiful,” I added as he kissed the corner of my mouth. The next thing I knew, we were on the bed even though it was littered with old, smelly clothes. Really, I didn’t notice at the time. But a moment later when I looked over Chase’s shoulder and saw at least six pairs of eyes watching us, all of it became clear to me.
I jumped up, kind of taking Chase with me. He ended up falling back on the bed while I stood facing our intruders—Death’s housemates, I assumed. “What do you want? ”
They ignored me, except to stare at my bodice. Chase got to his feet, and they hustled out of the way. Now that’s power.
“Sorry.” He grinned at me when we were alone. “Want to head back to the dungeon? ”
“I wish I could, but as you pointed out, I have a lot to do and not enough time to do it. Maybe we could meet for lunch.”
“Maybe. Have you decided on your costume yet for the feast tonight? I guess you have to be there so Harry can praise your efforts. Dressed as a man, I take it. I’m sure he doesn’t mean to parade a woman fighter in front of the crowd.”
I smiled. “I’m sure he doesn’t. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I know that look. I’m glad I’m going to be there.”
We walked back through what had become a dorm. Chase called out as we left, “Make sure Bart reports to me sometime today, or I’ll be back.”
“Do you think they’ll remember to tell him?” We stepped into the sunlight and were confronted by several headless gentlemen complete with walking sticks and capes.
“Who knows. I have something for you. I don’t give these out very often, but this is an extreme case.” He produced a two-way radio. “If anything looks wrong or you see the wacky Death guy following you again, call me.”
“Yes!” I had finally attained status in the Village. Only a handful of the chosen elite were allowed to carry these radios. I was finally one of them. “Aren’t you going to give me a big lecture on using them in front of visitors? ”
“No. I don’t care who you use it in front of if you need it.”
I kissed him and we whirled around a few times outside the Frog Catapult. Merlin pranced by and winked at me but didn’t say a word. As we separated, I asked Chase, “Who is Merlin and why did Livy back off yesterday when he told her to? I didn’t think anyone around here had that kind of power.”
He laughed. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to blab it around.”
“You know I won’t. Tell me.”
“If I hear it from one person today, I’ll lock you in the stocks tonight.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Kinky! Tell me, Chase. I won’t tell anyone else.”
He glanced around. The street was deserted except for the Green Man, who was practicing on his stilts several yards away. Seemingly assured of secrecy, Chase leaned toward me and said, “Merlin is really the founder and chairman of the board for Adventure Land. He just enjoys being here.”
“You’re kidding me? I can’t believe he’s—”
Chase put his hand over my mouth. “I’m not kidding, Jessie. If anyone finds out, I could lose my job. Besides Livy and Harry, I’m the only one who knows. You can’t say a word.”
I promised not to say anything, even though it would be hard. We parted with a kiss in front of the Glass Gryphon. I saw Roger standing at the front door to the shop. The look on his face was anything but inviting. I took a deep breath and started toward him, all of the reasons he should hire me back bursting to come out. I’d rehearsed last night in the shower (including my needy speech that included not having enough money to get home), and I was ready to confront him.
But as I reached him and opened my mouth to speak, the large wooden sign above us creaked. I looked up and saw it plummeting down on us. I grabbed Roger by the shirt front and jumped out of the way. We ended up rolling across the cobblestones, finally stopping with me on top of him.
The heavy sign crashed to the street and smashed against the stones. It fell facedown. As people started to gather around us and ask if we were both all right, I looked and saw a now familiar phrase: Death shall find thee.
“I don’t know about Death,” I said, “but I feel a headache coming on.”
Ten
“Are you okay? ” I asked Roger before I rolled off of him. I could only hope he wasn’t hurt because of me. “I’m fine.” He put his hands on my arms and gazed into my face. “If that crazy person who’s after me hurt you, I’ll never forgive myself.”
I was leaning close to him, worried that I wouldn’t be able to hear what he had to say. There was no way of knowing how badly he might be hurt. His words stunned me since they were what I was thinking, only the opposite way. But if I wasn’t prepared for his words, I was totally unprepared for him lifting his head and planting his lips on mine.
Stunned, I didn’t move for an instant. It was long enough for Mary Shift to fly out of Wicked Weaves across the street and push me roughly off of him.
“What’s going on?” she demanded. “Are you trying to make time with my man? ”
Taking into consideration that I’d almost had a sign in my head, my next words shouldn’t be judged too harshly. “I thought you two had broken up.”
I didn’t mean it that way, of course. It sounded bad, like I wanted Roger or something. That was the farthest thing from my mind, or any other part of my body. Just the idea made me feel worse than finding Death’s scythe on the bed last night.
“So you thought you’d move in and take him? ” Mary’s dark face was furious as she paced beside us where we seemed to be glued to the street.
“It’s not what it looks like, honey,” Roger assured her. “Jessie was here and I was . . . relieved. I don’t care anything about her like I care about you.”
“But you two can roll around in the dirt letting everyone else see your business while you accuse me of fooling around on the side.” Mary stamped her foot. “I’m through with both of you, you hear? I don’t want to see either of you again.”
I managed to get to my feet without stepping on Roger as Mary huffed back to Wicked Weaves. At least thirty residents were standing around watching the drama. Chase came up with Lonnie beside him as King Arthur set down Excalibur and helped Roger to his feet.
“Are you hurt?” Chase put his arms around me. “I got here as fast as I could. I think the Village needs to buy me a horse.”
“I’m fine. I pushed Roger out of the way as the sign was falling.” I was a little bruised, but I didn’t want to go into that. It was going to be hard enough convincing Chase again that I didn’t have to leave the Village because of this.
“You pushed me? ” Roger brushed the dust from his jerkin. “I saw the sign falling and pushed you out of the way. Lucky thing I still have those police officer reflexes.”
“I guess it doesn’t matter who pushed who,” Chase intervened. “I’m just glad both of you are all right.”
“I guess it wouldn’t matter to you,” Roger retorted. “As long as you look good, that’s all you care about. This kind of stuff has been happening to me the last few days. Someone turned my furnace on in the shed last week, locked the door, and almost roasted me in there.”
“You, too? ” I looked at Roger. “Somebody’s been after me, too. I thought the sign was headed for me. But maybe it was after you.”
Roger puffed out his less than substantial chest. “I’ve made a few enemies in my day. Sometimes they come back to haunt you. Maybe whoever’s responsible is after you because you’re my apprentice.”
I only picked up on one part of that statement. “You mean I can have my job back? ”
“Sure. I was upset yesterday. I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that, Jessie. Shakespeare told me that after you left. He also told me what happened with Henry. I had a talk with him. He won’t bother you again.”
“Thanks! I—”
“Never mind all that!” Chase glared at both of us. “This isn’t the time to think about going on here as an apprentice or anything else. Somebody tried to kill one or both of you. I don’t know if either of you are safe here.”
Lonnie had shinnied up the drainpipe to the roof of the Glass Gryphon, anticipating Chase wanting to know how the sign fell. “Looks to me like someone cut through the chains that were holding the sign up here. Guess they were just lucky it fell when their targets were standing right under it.”
“That sounds like a lot of guesswork.” Chase appeared to be unhappy with Lonnie’s conclusion. “Otherwise that sign could’ve fallen on anyone.”
“Maybe that’s the idea.” I felt a brainstorm coming on. I pulled Chase to the side of the group. “Maybe it just seems like someone’s gunning for me or Roger. Maybe it’s more random. Like you said, it could’ve been anyone.”
“What are you saying? That someone has it out for the Village and you and Roger are convenient targets? ”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. It was a very miniscule brainstorm. More like a brain spurt.
“I don’t know, Jessie. What’s happened to you doesn’t seem too random to me.”
“What about me?” Roger interrupted. “Why does it seem like someone has it in for me? ”
“What about Ross?” Marcus, the Black Dwarf, added his thoughts. “Somebody sure had it in for him.”
The crowd agreed, talking urgently about the need for greater security in the Village after everything that had happened. The funniest part was watching the witches discussing security with a group of vampires. How often do you see something like that?
We heard the Myrtle Beach police car before we saw it. It sneaked in through one of the side gates reserved for emergency personnel. Detective Almond wiped his sweaty brow as he pushed out of the passenger side. An officer got out from behind the wheel to accompany him.
The detective waddled through the crowd as though they weren’t there. “Now the place is falling apart, huh?” he said, taking in the fallen sign lying on the ground. “What’s next?”
“It’s been a rough few days,” Chase agreed. “I’m not sure what happened here. It looks like someone cut through the chains holding the sign up there.”
“Could’ve killed anyone then.” Detective Almond nodded. “Not just your pretty girlfriend.”
Chase didn’t say anything, but I could see he was holding back. A golf cart came in through the same emergency entrance behind the privies and careened toward us. I recognized one of the reporters from the local news station right away. Lilly Hamilton. She’s the worst. That’s all we needed—more bad publicity.
“I want forensics up on that roof in twenty minutes,” Detective Almond told the young officer with him. “I want to know for sure what happened up there.”
Lilly Hamilton and her cameraman were already working the crowd of residents to find out what was going on. Chase told them they couldn’t park the golf cart in the street, and she grinned. “It’s important for people to know what’s going on. You don’t want to stand in the way of that, do you, Prince Charming? ”
Chase explained that the police bringing in a vehicle that didn’t fit in with the Renaissance Village theme was one thing, but a golf cart full of reporters was another. “I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Lilly, a tanned little blond (I’m sure she’s had nose surgery), rubbed her hand on his chest. “Why don’t you just show me around? What’s your name again? I can send Mark outside with the cart. You can give me a personal tour.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. I sure didn’t like her and her fake nose. I went to stand next to Chase and smiled at her. “I think you can do your job and get out of here before we open for business. How about that? ”
She glared at me. “How about you mind your own business? What are you supposed to be anyway, some kind of pirate reject? ”
“Ladies, please!” Detective Almond interjected. “You with the golf cart, move it out of here. And you, Ms. Morton, I’ll need your statement about what happened.”
This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but since he’d gotten rid of Lilly, I obliged him with a detailed statement of what had happened. He talked to Roger next, then said our statements were the same, except for who saved whose life.
“I don’t know what to tell you about this, Manhattan.” Detective Almond scratched his chin. “If this keeps up, we’re gonna have to shut the place down until we figure it out.”
There was a collective indrawn breath from the residents around us. Unfortunately, Lilly was close enough to hear what he’d said. No doubt his words would be on the news later.
We all stood around talking until the big bell at the main gate sounded, letting us know visitors were arriving. Everyone scurried to their prospective places. I kissed Chase for luck, then darted inside the Glass Gryphon before he could give me a lengthy sermon on why I should leave the Village.
I glanced around inside the shop and was surprised to find that Henry wasn’t there. Roger was already at his workbench, putting on his goggles
and heating up his torch. “Are we alone today? ”
“Henry mentioned something about going into town,” Roger explained. “Are you going to worry about him all day or are you going to get busy? ”
Naturally this was all the encouragement I needed. I went back to my workbench and tried to remember how to light up my torch. After a moment or two, Roger sighed and came to help me. “Nothing fancy now. Just practice putting the glass together like I showed you, okay? ”
“Yes. Thanks for giving me another chance.”
“It’s okay. I was kind of a jerk yesterday. This thing with Mary is driving me nuts. I know something is going on over there with Damian. I haven’t caught them yet, but I can feel it.”
I put on my goggles. “Roger, Mary thinks there’s something going on between us. Things are not always as they appear.”
“I suppose that’s true. You know, that woman has been the queen of my heart since we first met. I don’t want to lose her. I wish she’d marry me. Then I’d feel more secure about everything.”
“Some things have to be taken on trust.” I picked up two glass rods and used the torch to soften them and glue them together. At this rate, I’d never learn to make glass animals.
“I wish there was something I could do, some way to prove to her how much I love her.”
I glanced up from my hot glass rods and studied his face. He wasn’t a handsome man, but I supposed he was likable. Mary seemed to care a lot about him. Maybe there was some way to bring them back together. It would be easier with Roger being part of the plan. Just as well since I’d become the enemy as far as Mary was concerned.
A lady and gentleman entered the shop. Her dress was to die for. It looked as though it had been spun from real spiderwebs. I’d never seen anything like it. The gentleman wore a black cloak with a high collar that framed his gaunt, white face. I wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be a vampire, but he sure looked like one.
“Just keep practicing,” Roger said quietly before he went to bow before them and ask if there was anything he could help them with.
I mostly tuned out the conversation after that. They were visitors, even if they were dressed in Halloween garb. They were looking for a bird of some kind for the mantle in their house.
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